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Summary

After failing to collect Ciel's soul in strange circumstances, Sebastian returns home in Underworld to brood over his misfortune. But little does he know how their fate will change now that he is no longer the butler... Yeah, you got that right ;) Rated for language, yaoi, violence and a load of crack here and there.Disclaimer - I don't own Black Butler

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Summary

A scam artist masquerading as a medium learns the hard way why you don't play games with Ciel Phantomhive. And why, if you insist on having him over for a sham seance, you should really make sure to dust first.

Summary

The latest shenanigans resulting from the Phantomhive servants’ fascination with Sebastian involve timing the butler as he completes various tasks with astonishing speed. And then they find a pattern associated with their young master…

Summary

Ciel needs a guide once he becomes a demon, but all he's left with is a butler who seems to hate him. Ciel may think that leaving Sebastian will solve the problems, but Sebastian might have other plans.

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Summary

He impulsively broke the covenant, then remade it. But can the trust, once shattered, be recovered? Sebastian must work twice as hard to rebuild what he briefly discarded. Shotacon, yaoi. Divergence from anime plot.

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Bookmarker's Notes

The trust between demon and master is shattered when Sebastian breaks the terms of their contract. As Ciel and Sebastian struggle to find peace within their new contract, a case brings them deeper into the world of the supernatural. "Devilish Impulses" ignores the second anime series, instead envisioning a future beyond the end of series 1. The dynamics between Ciel and Sebastian capture everything I love about their relationship. This is a Ciel who is struggling to find a reason to live now that his revenge is carried out, but who still has his pride and his cold ease in dealing with London's criminal (and supernatural) underworld. And Sebastian is still a demon, wrestling with his surprising new feelings for his Ciel, along with the old devilish impulses to hurt him.

A few things in this story might throw some readers off, though I saw them as icing on the cake. First, obviously, is the underage relationship. Underage fic doesn't bother me in this fandom because, despite his physical age, I have never seen Ciel as a child. After all, not many boys are capable of policing London's underworld, with or without the help of a demon! But I think even readers who are more wary about underage relationships might appreciate how this one is handled. In this story, Ciel is the one who advocates to move forward with a physical relationship, while Sebastian keeps throwing on the brakes, insisting they have time to wait for certain things until Ciel is older. It made a big difference in the relationship dynamics of the story. Second, the hurt/comfort is laid on thick. Prepare for many long, loving descriptions of Sebastian tending to Ciel's wounds and looking after him during a long illness. For me, that's a selling point, but I get that other readers like their h/c more understated. And third, the writing in this story is very lush. The long sentences and occasional epithet threw me off a bit as I started reading, but there's so little long Kuroshitsuji fic that I pushed past it, and I'm glad I did. I'm now inclined to look at the prose as an homage to the writing style of the time period -- this sort of prose is far more at home in a pseudo 19th-century world of Kuroshitsuji than in something like Teen Wolf.

In the end, "Devilish Impulses" stands out as one of the best Kuroshitsuji fics I've read. I loved how the author handled the long format -- it reads more as a novel than the typical long fic does. I also loved the theology the author introduced to the canon. Finally, I loved watching Sebastian and Ciel mend the broken trust between them, emerging on the other end stronger and closer than ever. Certain scenes in this fic have been running through my head more or less constantly since I read it, and I know it won't be long before I give in and read the whole thing over again